Revolution in school shops and canteens. Meat and coffee regulations raise controversy

• A revolution is coming to plates in school and kindergarten canteens
• The Ministry of Health is planning a change to the so-called shop regulation, which regulates what children can buy to eat at school, but also the meals they receive in canteens.
• The goal is a healthier diet for children. It is about one with elements of a planetary diet. Therefore, the basis of the dinner one day a week is to be legumes
• The addition of a provision stating that meat should be served for dinner at least twice a week is controversial.
• Representatives of non-governmental organizations assess such a provision as discriminatory and emphasize that there are more and more children who do not eat meat.
• The Ministry asks for your comments

On Monday, July 7, the Parliamentary Team for the Quality of Children's Nutrition in Care and Educational Facilities dealt with the draft regulation of the Minister of Health of June 16, 2025 on groups of foodstuffs intended for sale to children and adolescents in education system units and the requirements that must be met by foodstuffs used in the collective nutrition of children and adolescents in these units (the so-called "shop" regulation ).

Dorota Korbasińska-Chwedczuk , Director of the Department of Public Health at the Ministry of Health, reminded that the draft amendments to this regulation are currently in consultations, which will end on July 18 this year.

She noted that the regulation specifies not only the groups of foodstuffs intended for sale to children and adolescents in educational system units, i.e. kindergartens and schools, and the requirements for collective catering for children and adolescents, but also the nutritional standard for children in educational facilities .

- This is about strengthening children's health protection by limiting access to products that should not be part of meals given to children, and do not serve proper development - emphasized the representative of the Ministry of Health. She added that these are products containing significant amounts of sugar, salt, and fat.

She noted that the ministry paid attention - in line with the expectations of non-governmental organizations - to the implementation of the planetary diet as part of collective nutrition.

- This mainly concerns the popularization of meals based on legumes and the introduction of at least one lunch meal without meat - she explained the proposed provisions of the amendment to the regulation.

The project also assumes the permission to sell and prepare meals in collective catering of plant products imitating dairy products, but only those that are enriched with calcium and vitamin B12. It is also envisaged that plant products replacing dairy products may be served in collective catering.

Are the meat and coffee provisions controversial?

Importantly, the new provision prohibits the sale of coffee on the premises of an educational institution , which, as the representative of the Ministry of Health said, has so far raised various controversies.

Another new provision provides for a lunch meal with meat at least twice a week.

Dr. hab. Joanna Myszkowska - Ryciak from the Polish Society of Dietetics pointed out that according to the data:

• Only 21% of children aged 6-17 consume more than one serving of dairy products per day.
• 47.7% of children aged 6-17 consume less than one portion of fish per week.
• 62% of early school-age children do not eat vegetables every day, and 55% do not eat fresh fruit .
• 27.6% of 7-year-olds and 34.8% of 9-year-olds are overweight.
• 10.5% of 7-year-olds have elevated systolic blood pressure, including 5% who have hypertension .

As she said, the current regulation from 2016 refers to nutritional standards that have changed several times over the past 10 years, hence the need for modification.

Among the proposed changes is the permission to sell in shops, among others, beverages and dairy products that imitate milk and dairy products. - Plant products imitating dairy products, but enriched with at least calcium and vitamin B12, including those based on cereals, soy, rice, nuts, almonds or legume seeds, have been added as a separate sub-item - she said.

The change also applies to drinks prepared on site. The amount of sugar added on site to the finished product - according to the proposed changes - is to be reduced by half - from 10 to 5 grams.

Another proposed provision concerns taking into account the seasonality of food products when preparing meals.

- In the case of full-day meals or in an educational unit where at least 3 meals are served: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, at least two portions of milk or dairy products are served every day, where one of the portions may be replaced by a portion of plant drinks or plant products imitating dairy products - reads another of the proposed changes.

Additional points - as explained by the representative of the Polish Society of Dietetics - include serving a dish prepared from legume seeds for dinner at least once a week and a provision that a portion of meat is to be served for dinner at least twice a week .

- This is a very strong nod to a balanced approach to nutrition and planet-friendly recommendations - she said.

The chairwoman of the team and representatives of non-governmental organisations pointed out that including in the regulation the obligation to serve meat twice a week without an alternative may be a form of discrimination and results in, among other things, unequal access to full-value meals for those children who do not eat meat, and there are an increasing number of them.

Dagmara Korbasińska-Chwedczuk stated that the growing number of people following a vegetarian or vegan diet is "a problem". As she said, however, "the delegation (statutory - editorial note) does not take into account elimination diets". - We cannot decide on this issue in this respect, it would be a violation of the law - she said. In turn, the recommendations of experts are not to limit meat, and the Ministry of Health uses knowledge from experts when preparing legal acts. - We try to ensure such a situation that this diet is as healthy as possible - she assured.

She encouraged people to submit comments as part of the consultation on the draft regulation.

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